Poison Pen and Iron Solomon have recently sat down on Uppercut Podcast where they briefly recalled the story of Eminem and Big Proof battling rappers outside the 88 Hip-Hop Radio Station.
“88 Hip-Hop was very pivotal because it was not just young motherf–kers like us. I told you Fat Joe, Pun and other motherf–kers were there. I met Eminem there. He battled my man Karate Joe. Rest in peace Karate Joe, Flatbush finest, he battled on the corner for cigarettes and Em pulled up with The Outsidaz, with Young Zee, Pace was not there but Young Zee was there. We be young, we knew who Young Zee was, we didn’t know the white boy with a hood on, we know who he [Young Zee] was. Em was ridiculous! Karate Joe and Eminem rhymed back and forth for 114 years on the corner. There is absolutely no footage of that. Things like that would happen regularly outside. That’s where I met him.” said Poison Pen.
Then he continued: “Then I linked up with Proof. Rest in peace. Proof used to come out here. Proof did the Blaze battle. Proof actually got booed cause he battled a female and he smoked her! I don’t remember the girls name but he battled shorty and he smoked her! This is also a different era so he was talking wild, disrespecting the f–k out of her so she got the sympathy vote cause he was going so hard on her, obviously he won they wasn’t having that so they booed him and s–t and shorty got the sympathy win and my ni–a proof lost. That s–t was crazy. That’s history right there. I said I met Em out there. 88 Hip-Hop is were my battle rap journey started.”
Detroit hip-hop pioneer Esham has recently sat down with Kid L where he discussed his timeline from before rap, during rap, his first album, his encounters with D12 and Eminem, and his closure of the situation with Detroit legend Big Proof. They also discussed his concern for culture protection for the city of Detroit.
Esham lying about 8 Mile
Proof from D12 used to go to my high school. I’m the person that made him want to be a rapper. I had rap records out when I was in high school. I was that person who did all of that. And me, I would help everybody, that’s just how I was raised. There is no outlets for musicians in Detroit. There is no Universal Records downtown, there is no Interscope record downtown so that frustration, that’s what got people out here just mad because they’ll do anything to get that record deal. I’ve seen so many people in the movie 8 Mile, none of them could get a record deal after that. Not one of them. Even being in that huge movie. It was a fantasy or something? I never seen 8 Mile movie. I live on 8 Mile, I know what real 8 Mile look like. It’s a rap movie about a rapper that be punching motherf–kers in the face of the city of Detroit. That s–t never happened. I got a question for Em. Why Proof could not play Proof in 8 Mile?
Esham lying about Eminem restricting Swifty McVay, Bizarre and Kuniva from mentioning D12 by using the N word
Did I have opportunity to sign to Shady Records? No. Why would I want to be a part of that. I don’t have nothing against them but they don’t actually put records out. I mean, whose records did they put out? Is it a real record company? Last time I checked Em said don’t say D12 in any records no more. He was like ‘y’all motherf–kers don’t say don’t say D12. It’s heavy on the ER when he said n-gger to him too. Did he call them n–gers or something? He was like ‘f–k you n-ggers.’
Esham lying about Proof and getting beaten up by D12 members
Bizarre said that they jumped me back in the days. First of all, Bizarre was over there getting some hot dogs from hot dog stands. He was not even there. Rufus needs to stop lying. But in all fairness, that was about the City of Detroit, that was not about no raps I made. We come from era of rap where you gon’ say my name then b–ch I’m coming. And I’m the only person that lyrically defeated Eminem. Hands down, flawless victory. He didn’t even respond. It was like me beating up on a baby. I don’t have nothing against these guys. You have to ask them why would y’all be talking about this man and he from the city. I just feel like it was an attack on my character. People who physically assaulted me…I’m from Detroit man, we really don’t be talking about that type s–t. It was 30 of them n-ggas but I’m still here. We were fighting Proof and them. Proof was the one we were fighting but Proof ain’t here anymore. And I squashed all that with Proof. I’m the reason that beef got squashed. Proof called me right before he died. He made up with me. He told me bunch of stuff about his label and all the discrepancies that he had and all the stuff that was going on over there and what Paul Rosenberg and all of them were doing over there to him and how they played him and stuff like that. I know what he said and I know what he went through. But we were man enough to squash that s–t.
Esham justifying himself form mentioning Eminem’s daughter Hailie in a diss record
Yeah, I said something about Eminem’s daughter. So what? That n-gga can say anything he wants about somebody. When you say my name, it’s on! This is f–king rap n-gga. You said something about Christopher Reeve when he was paralyzed? What about his family? You said something about Michael Jackson, that’s my motherf–king boy, now what?! Ain’t no motherf–kin’ ‘you said something’. If he still butur about that, f–king good! Good b-tch! I’ll say it again! F–k him.”
Eminem and Esham had a beef in the early 2000s. Esham released a disstrack on Eminem called “Chemical Imbalance” where he also dissed Eminem’s little daughter, Hailie. D12 members beat up Esham because of that song. Esham suffered a broken nose, ruptured eyeball, mild concussion and a loss of hearing in his left ear…You can watch the new interview below:
Nasaan and Royce 5’9″ have recently sat down with Way Up With Angela Yee where they talked about Nasaan’s upcoming album Error 404 that’s releasing on April 25, 2024, featuring BabyTron, Royce 5’9″, Icewear Vezzo and more. They also talked sobriety, Cordae, Eminem, Paul Rosenberg, Obie Trice, Big Proof, their biggest mistakes and much more.
Nasaan & Royce 5’9″ on Cordae
Nasaan: I don’t even have a problem with the dude. I actually like him as a person. I picked on him a few years ago and then my fans just loved it. It’s like an inside joke. That’s messed up. That’s mean. I probably gonna stop. So, shout out to Cordae though. It’s rooted in competition. It’s not like a personal beef.
Royce 5’9″: I love Cordae. He is so emotionally intelligent. That’s why I didn’t think anything of it. And you know how the rappers are when they are young. I was the same way. I was doing more than ripping pictures.
Royce 5’9″ on DJ Premier and Eminem
Me and Preem working on, it’s a joint thing we do together called PRhyme, so we working on third installment right now. As far as me and Marshall, all he has to do is sent me a text message and I’m to the studio whenever he’s ready. We pretty much do that on his time. And he’s always on some type of time. He’s always on some sort of mission. I don’t know what he’s doing right now but I know he’s recording a lot of stuff.
Nasaan on Paul Rosenberg
When Paul discovered me I was somebody who was just really good at rapping. I didn’t have myself figured out. Now I understand more who I am, not only as an artist but as a person. There is more to steer and guide now. Paul is helping and plying a part and it’s easier for him to understand who he’s working with. He’s a big homie. He’s always in my corner.
Royce 5’9″ on Obie Trice
I have not spoken to Obie Trice in a while. I bumped into him couple of times but it was an environment where we could really like kick it but I’ve heard some things. I’ve got that feeling [to reach out and talk] couple of times watching him. That’s a slipper uphill slope. I don’t wanna step on toes or say anything that’s gonna offend anybody. I know, how us as addicts, we get defensive when people come at us in any kind of way about our problems. If ever the opportunity for me to speak to him, if he ever feels the need to speak to somebody I’m certainly somebody he can definitely reach out to. I’m always available for that. That’s like a big thing to me too as well. Just not only being sober but taking the steps through my sobriety helping other people. It’s so tough to do because you don’t wanna seem like one of those people who got sober and now you coming from a place of judgement.
Nasaan and Royce 5’9″ have recently sat down with Ebro Darden, Pete Rosenberg and Laura Stylez on Ebro In The Morning for a conversation about growing up in hip-hop, going major vs independent, being able to carve up your own identity, learning more about the late Big Proof, lessons learned throughout their careers, the need for more mentorship in hop-hop and more. They also got into the recent debate on if B-Rabbit (played by Eminem) really won the second round of his famous 8-Mile battle against Lotto. Royce 5’9″ also talks about his recent collaboration with Detroit Pistons honoring J Dilla with new merchandise for Detroit’s 313 Day.
Nasaan on discovering his pass after meeting Eminem
I’m more so proud of myself. Just being a creative artist overall. Rapping is cool. I was saying this story the other day — I went to the studio with Marshall one time. He was just talking about how much he love rap. Then I was like, ‘yo, he’s different.’ That’s not for me. And I kind of had to find out what was for me. I’m just like creative. I direct, edit all of my music videos. They are all crazy.
Royce 5’9″ on learning things from Eminem businesswise and forming communication skills
Young men are not communicators, old ones either. I didn’t start to being able to communicate until therapy and I was in my late 30s. That’s when I really, actually learned how to talk to my wife, talk to my kids, so it’s tough. If you get thrown into the business like me, Marshall, kind of snatched me up and just threw me in the business. I ain’t know how to make records. All I knew how to do was rap really well.
Nasaan on his relationship with his father, Big Proof.
I was so young that I kind of make out who he is through stories from him [Royce], other people’s experiences and whatever YouTube videos are remaining. He passed when I was super young and at he was at his height of his career. He was never really home. They were always on the road. So, I don’t really know my father. That sounds bad but I don’t really knew him on personal level. Sometimes I find myself digging stuff about him.
Nasaan on his relationship with Eminem
We are cool. Anytime I need him, he is there. I don’t really like bother them or just go that way cause I’m still just growing and still kind of figure things my own. I’ve always been like that. It’s weird that you asked me about my father cause I used to run from that so much. Don’t kill me [Royce] but I think being a rapper’s son is so f–king corny. I used to hate people telling that but I had grown to it and realize it’s kind of a blessing
Royce 5’9″ about hip-hop being competitive and the importance of mentorship
We didn’t really have OGs, mentors. I think mentorship is the biggest void that’s in the marketplace in terms of black culture today. The generations that came before us…Me and Marshall came, Marshall was stomping through and I was right behind him, stepping. All of the guys that we looked up were like Gods, they just looked at as like competition. They didn’t necessarily embrace us. It would have been cool to get that embrace.
Royce 5’9″ on Joyner Lucas and his approach on creating music
When I first seen Joyner Lucas, the way he was able to paint this pictures that he would have in his mind before even laying the verse or raps down in the studio, he already knew what he wanted it to look like. That was incredible to me. I had a conversation with him one day. He was not really happy with the way things were going in terms of productivity in his career and he was just like ‘I should just direct my own videos.’ I was like ‘You should!’ He went and did it. And the first one he directed connected more than anything he had ever released before. And I can only attribute that to him seeing the vision all the way though and it resonating with people because of that. We received it the way he intended for it to be received because he was involved in every step of the way and I think it is no different from what I’ve been in my career, just a sonic side. Even with the Slaughterhouse, I was the guy in the group who was there at the very beginning of the session and I was always the last one to leave. It’s just the way I like to work. I even do that with Preem when it’s not even necessary. When we were working on Prime stuff, I be all involved in the mix and Preem was like ‘Get out of the way!’ It is just my way.
Royce 5’9″ & Nasaan on internet’s recent discussion on if B-Rabbit won a battle against Lotto in 8 Mile.
“The internet just looking for reasons to discredit Marshall. Even in his own movie. That s–t was not even close. Lotto did good though.” said Royce. Nasaan added: “I think Marshall took it over the top with the theatrics too. And just how animated he was.”
Royce 5’9″ on his plans for new music
Me and Preem are working on PRhyme 3 but I’ve been taking my time with it cause I have few other things that I’ve been working on that I can’t quite discuss it. I’m more excited about these two things in particular that I’m working on right now probably more than anything I’ve ever been a part of. I’d love to give people a rap album right now but it is not just happening like that. I’d love to go in and just do Bar Exam right now but the bar is so low. I don’t know if I’m not motivated, I just don’t feel it. I look at people that I look up to. Like Hov for instance. I don’t personally think like he needs to do another album again, ever. I just feel like what he’s doing now on an executive level is way more beneficial to the culture than any music that he can do at this juncture but when he was at a point in his career where the music was the most important, pertinent thing that he can contribute he gave it to us at the highest level possible.
Detroit battle rap legend Calicoe has recently sat down with Kid L where they talked about his come up in the battle scene, and even being named by Proof. He tells a story of D12‘s Bizarre, making safety a priority during a rap battle that almost went left. They also talked about the Ultimate Rap League and his relationship with Smack.
“Bizarre is my dawg. If I would never told nobody that Bizarre helped me a lot in my situation and put me in position to win, nobody would know cause he never tells nobody. He would never tell nobody. Proof never tell nobody.” – said Calicoe.
Then he continued: “Proof was getting behind me before he passed. The night Proof died, I was downtown at his studio, whole night, waiting for him to come back from a bar cause I was too young I could not even get in to the bar. So, I could not go with him to the bar. I was doing a mixtape at his studio. He was going to push whole mixtape for me. He died that night, I went to school next morning seeing it on the news and they were like ‘D12 member has been shot.’ They didn’t even release the name. My blood cousin is Kuniva and everybody around me calling, making sure he okay and then we found out it was Proof.”
“That was some crazy s–t for me. I’m young as hell and somebody saying to me they gonna do this for me, they gonna put the album together, I don’t gotta pay for nothing, it’s all good, they believe me and then they die. I don’t even tell that story a lot. Bizarre carried on what Proof was doing. A lot of people don’t know Future in 8 Mile is Proof. A lot of people don’t know Proof had long dreads back in the day. A lot of people don’t understand that Proof was behind battle rap.” – Calicoe added.
Detroit hip-hop artist and battle rapper Quest Mcody has recently sat down with P to Da 3rd Letter on Rap Grid where the two talked about Eminem and Benzino’s reignited beef, why Eminem slander is still cool thing to do and how Big Proof influenced the entire Detroit rap scene.
“Everybody know where it stem from. Benzino has been poking. He say stuff about Eminem in the interviews all the time, in a lot of interviews. Em don’t do a lot of interviews. He rap. So sometimes when he rap he say something and he felt like saying something this time and the rest is the rest. It pushed Benzino.” said Quest Mcody.
Then he continued: “I like Eminem as a rapper. I think Eminem is a good rapper so if we just talk about raps, Benzino is just not that good of a rapper. It’s not a rap beef. I think the raps were dope but Benzino is not a good rapper, we know that and he knows that. He said it himself, he got help to put it together. So, I just think it’s silly to compare he two. I’m not about to break down and compare a ghostwritten diss-track to somebody that was making fun of you with their own raps. It’s okay to have ghostwritten work. It’s something that has been around the raps but I don’t consider people that rap on Rapper’s Delight when I talk about people like Jay-Z or Eminem or Nas and that’s just how I go.”
“I don’t think Eminem is held in such a high regard in only Detroit cause if it was just Detroit, he wouldn’t be Eminem. Every year he’s top 10 streamed artist without putting out what would some consider a classic album in many many years. He got core fanbase, he got a fanbase. He said it on records why some of that is but also is to be recognized by everybody. Like Drake can’t be Drake without crossover fans. Hip-hop can’t survive if it’s just us because we are minority. So, if you are selling million of records in America, based on the numbers alone, you gotta be able to sell records to people that are outside of your demographic and if somebody comes along and they heighten the awareness of that demographic to the whole of hip-hop, that’s a benefit for hip-hop. Because now we got more fans.”
“The reason some people are still slandering Eminem is because it’s cool thing to do to discredit. It’s cool to have these outlandish takes. It’s very very common right now to ignore certain things because you don’t like something. I can’t say somebody’s whack because I don’t like it or because it ain’t my cup of tea. Like, there is no way you can tell me that Drake is not good based on the response ‘nah I might not like it’ but it’s hard for me to say like ‘yo, this is not good’ or he is not talented. Maybe I don’t think it’s good but I can’t think he’s not talented because you’ve shown this in different ways. I gotta be able to recognize the appeal outside my own. So, I just think it’s cool to just talk s–t.” Quest Mcody added.
Then he continued talking about the importance of Big Proof for Detroit and told few unheard stories about him: “Proof means a lot. Proof was somebody that invested in the community and got love from us. He was pivotal in everybody’s lives. It didn’t matter how frequent he was in your life, if you met P, he made an impact. There’s a lot of stuff people don’t know about Proof. He was the first person to have Unsigned Hype article, not Em. Proof won The Source’s Unsigned Hype rap battle. he beat Supernatural. Proof was known across the country for being phenomenal battle rapper even more so in some spaces than Eminem. A lot of our first experiences with industry came through Proof. Proof put my only solo song on the label project that he put out and I wasn’t on the label. We never did music but we had a lot of conversations. The first battle I won money being there Proof just left doing the show with 50 Cent that night and came and hosted the battle that I won $100 and he gave it to me out of his pocket. Backpack hip-hop, battle rap world, the street music that you hear, he was the bridge to that. It was always love. He gave a piece of family and belonging to a lot of people. He had a record label with a lot of dope artists from the battle rap scene in Detroit. He gave us the opportunity to get our fanbase.”
You can watch the entire thing and make sure to check out some Quest Mcody music below.
17 years have passed since Big Proof passed away. On April 11, 2006, Proof was shot three times by Mario Etheridge, once in the head and twice in the chest, after a dispute broke out during a game of billiards at the CCC Club on 8 Mile Road in Detroit.
A pool game between Proof and Keith Bender turned into a heated argument and then escalated into a physical altercation. Etheridge, who was Bender’s cousin, fired a warning shot into the air. There have been many conflicting reports about Proof and Keith Bender’s roles in the shooting, but it was reported that Proof then shot Bender in the head during the altercation.
Bender was not immediately killed by the gunshot but died a week later from his injuries. In response to Proof shooting Bender, Etheridge then shot Proof three times, once in the head and twice in the chest, killing him at the scene.
On April 19, 2006, a service for Proof was held in the Fellowship Chapel in Detroit to a full house of 2,660 people, including life-long friends Eminem, Royce Da 5’9″, 50 Cent, and thousands more mourning outside.
To honor the life of Detroit’s Mayor, his son Nasaan dedicated a heartful letter to his father on Instagram. “Felt like I needed you more than ever in my life this last year. I’m doing a lot of this s–t on my own and getting it done no matter what, which I know you would be so happy about. Thank you, I love you. I’mma continue to make you proud. THE BIGGEST. RIP LEGEND.” he wrote.
Royce 5’9″, Bizarre of D12 and Lazarus have all sent heart emojis in the comments section. You can check the post below:
We have heard this story before but in a recent interview, DJ Whoo Kid revisited the story of Eminem shooting up his hotel room while touring with D12 and G-Unit in Japan in 2003.
“We fall asleep and we were like two groupies. Japanese chicks does not speak English but I just DJed in front of Eminem so these girls were back there to f–k us. One fell asleep and and her friend was acting weird. Then she fall asleep on the couch. We don’t lock our doors cause Yakuza’s outside. But Eminem was like at 3 A.M. walking around hallways and he sees my door open and he kicks my door in and the girl that was on the couch wakes up. Eminem has a mask and he just starts shooting. The girl sees him and she faints. She thought she was gonna get killed or something. She wakes us up and she’s screaming. I was like, ‘yo he is not trying to kill us.” – says Whoo Kid.
Then he continues: “Then we called police and then police came and they just looking around and nothing happened after that. So day four, we are all in a mess hall, cause Eminem’s s–t is crazy, he has the video game room, when you tour with him it’s like a playland. So no we are in the room to do a sound check and I’m telling everybody what happened but he’s just sitting there like whatever. He didn’t even respond to say that it was him that kicked the door in.”
“He also kicked Proof’s door in and he started shooting with the mask on.” – Whoo Kid
“And four days later, he didn’t even tell nobody that it was him while we were all scared a s–t. He’s Eminem. He’s joker, a wildest kid. He never told us it was him. We were like why you never told us so we could have no anxiety.” he added.
Bizarre has recently done an interview with VLAD TV where the D12 rapper recalled lots of stories about Eminem and Dirty Dozen, including that one time D12 beating up Esham for mentioning Eminem’s daughter on “Chemical Imbalance” with a following lines: “They won’t let me on MTV I’d beat up Carson Daly and remind Eminem of D’Angelo Bailey, Hailie’s in a coma, Hailie’s in a coma.”
During the interview, Bizarre said: “We were on a world tour. We heard that Esham was going to be on the same tour and they were trying to separate us, they made sure that he went on like five o’clock and we went like eight or nine because they didn’t want us to bump to each other. One day we were performing and he was in a front raw shouting, wearing black mask on and holding cross and s**t and I’m like ‘damn, what the f**k.’ He was like taunting us.”
“One day we were leaving and he was outside with his fans and everybody was in the back of the bus and I was in the front watching TV. I looked out of the window and I see Esham with 40 ounce of bottle with his hand, he got all his fans behind him and was going to throw a bottle at the bus and he threw it. We come out of the bus an get to running to Esham. He was behind this big barbed wire gate so he was thinking like ‘ain’t now way you can get me’ so when we get close Proof just jumped in the air and did this f**king karate kick like BUUM. And in just one kick the gate got open a little bit and Proof slid through it first, went to Esham like ‘come here, bam! come here, bam!’ then Denaun came in, bam, bam, bam, we owned them and after that they kicked us off the tour. But shout out to Esham, that’s my boy, we squashed it. That’s a homie.” – said Bizarre.
Bizarre has recently done “Off The Porch” interview with Mikala Horne on Dirty Glove Bastard.
During the conversation Biz broke down the different miles of Detroit, his childhood growing up in 7 Mile, childhood story of getting hit in the face, jumping off the porch at the 18, how he has navigated throughout his life and learning how to move cautiously, thoughts on the new generation, started rapping in the fifth grade and it leading into his rap name, being influenced by Scarface and Redman, his mom making him rap at churches and auditioning, his experience with battle rapping, Eminem being judged off his race during battle rapping, Big Proof creating the group, the creative concept behind the shower caps, rules back in the day when it came to the industry, not having a lot of support when they first came out, Jay Electronica doing videography for D12, smoke sessions with Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg and more!
“Back in the days, it was like ‘white man can’t jump.’ That’s the best way I can describe. It was always like ‘man who is this white boy? but once Eminem opened his mouth and started rapping they were like ‘ohh, s**t, this white boy nice.’ So people who knew he was nice there was no doubt about it but we were always constantly going to new environments, so when we were going to new environment, I already kinda knew ‘alright there’s going to be some bulls**t’ and then when Em opened his mouth and before he even finished his verse, there was already believers, so yeah, there were lots of doubters cause Detroit is 90% black city. Lots of ni**as bet money cause they thought they gonna be able to beat Eminem in battle.” said the D12 emcee.
When interviewer asked about him battling Eminem, Bizarre responded: “I did battle Eminem before. Did I win? NAAAH, NAAH [Laughs] but I did not lose to a lot of people, I lost to him and I lost to Swifty McVay before.”
“There was a process of elimination when battling. It might have been 50 people in this battle so If I win, I just win the first round. I still got like five other rounds to go and then if I win the whole battle, then I can battle Eminem because he was the champion, he was just on the sidelines, waiting to see who gonna win out of this 50 people.” – Bizarre added.
10 people were killed and hundreds injured at Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival in Houston, Texas, at NRG Park on November 5, 2021 after concertgoers surged toward the stage during the rapper’s headlining set.
To help understand the role that policy plays in shaping events like Astroworld, CNN talked to Gil Fried, a crowd management expert and professor at the University of West Florida.
Dr. Fried brought the example of Eminem how to handle such kind of situation: “Eminem said to the crowd, “Okay, everyone, I’m going to start a new dance with you. Okay? Two steps back, one step forward, two steps back, one step forward.” And he was trying to alleviate the pressure of everyone that was pushed up against the barricade by doing that. And an artist can do that.”
Now, 2002 video of Eminem and Big Proof trying to prevent crowd-crush during the performance of “I’m Back” in DC has resurfaced online. In the video, you can hear Eminem addressing the surfing crowd: “Ayo, DJ, stop it! You gotta quit pushing towards the f**king front or we can not perform. I got police telling me that show is canceling if you all do not stop pushing towards the front. You guys gotta calm the f**k down so we can do the show. Ayo, if you got somebody on the ground in front of you, help them up. We can not continue the show until you chill the f**k out. DC, everybody back the f**k up!”
On this day, 17 years ago, June 15, 2004, Big Proof release his solo debut album “I Miss the Hip Hop Shop,” the follow-up of D12’s “D12 World.” The album was released
via Iron Fist Records.
The 19-tracks project includes features from Journalist, MU, T-Flame, Fatt Father, 1st Born, Famous, Killa Khann and Dogmatic. There is no feature from other D12 members, not even Eminem. Proof wanted to answer the question he asked on “My Band”: “How I’m gon’ let the world know that Proof is hot?”
Some of the standout tracks are “Bring It 2 Me” which is produced by J Dilla, “Play With Myself” produced by DJ Premier, “You Know How 2” produced by Denaun Porter aka Kon Artis and “Ja In A Bra,” a diss track to Ja Rule for the feud he had with Shady Records.
Throughout the album, Proof raps about fame, struggles, and other issues he has encountered ever since he has blown up.
